Rebel Rags is suing for "defamation, slander, conspiracy and commercial disparagement stemming from false statements made to the NCAA and have since been published in the (university's response to the) notice of allegations."

In the university's latest notice of allegations, former Ole Miss defensive line coach Chris Kiffin and former off-field staffer Barney Farrar were charged to arranged [sic] for $2,800 in impermissible recruiting inducements in the form of free merchandise from Rebel Rags to the those three individuals.

Charlie Merkel, one of the attorneys representing Rebel Rags, confirmed the suit was filed Friday afternoon and the servicing process was completed Sunday. Mississippi State had no comment on the situation.

Rebel Rags is suing those three for "defamation, slander, conspiracy and commercial disparagement stemming from false statements made to the NCAA and have since been published in the (university's response to the) notice of allegations."

What Merkel is referring to is allegation No. 9 in the university's latest notice of allegations.

Former Ole Miss defensive line coach Chris Kiffin and former off-field staffer Barney Farrar were alleged to have arranged for $2,800 in impermissible recruiting inducements in the form of free merchandise from Rebel Rags to the those three individuals.

The alleged violations took place between Jan. 25 and 27, 2013 and between March 28, 2014 and Jan. 31, 2016. The allegation is a Level I violation and one the university disputed thoroughly in its response.

"(T)here is no proof that corroborates the claims of [Family Member 1], [Student-Athlete 39], or [Student-Athlete 40] that each of them received free merchandise from [Booster 8], much less at the direction of a football staff member," the response stated.

"Not a single witness corroborates these claims – in fact, every other witness denies it, including those closest to the prospects and without University affiliation."

The two student-athletes, who were recruits at the time, said they received hundreds of dollars in free merchandise, but the response argued Rebel Rags' purchase records disprove those claims.

Matt Wilson, Miller's attorney, gave a statement to The Clarion-Ledger on Monday morning, which said: "We plan to mount a vigorous defense. It'll be in the court filings, not in the media."

Kiffin and Farrar's individual responses both denied the allegation as well. In addition, there were also denials of the allegation from 15 former and current student-athletes and parents, who were asked about Rebel Rags during the investigation, in the university's response.

Lindsey Miller has filed a motion to dismiss a suit that was brought on him by Rebel Rags last month.

State players Leo Lewis and Kobe Jones were also sued for “defamation, slander, conspiracy and commercial disparagement stemming from false statements made to the NCAA and have since been published in the [university’s response to the] notice of allegations.”

The lawsuit stems from events that are alleged to have occurred in 2013 and 2016 that involve former Rebels assistant coach Chris Kiffin and former staffer Barney Farrar. The men allegedly arranged for free merchandise for Lewis, Jones and Miller, which is not allowed under NCAA rules.

The benefits, which are alleged to total nearly $3,000, are mentioned as allegation No. 9 in Ole Miss’ latest notice of allegations from the NCAA. Lewis and Jones both claimed to have receive hundreds of dollars of free merchandise from the store when they were being recruited by Ole Miss. Rebel Rags denies this claim, as have Kiffin and Farrar.

Boy, talk about a total zoo!!!! We have these clowns suing MSU and company, we have the NCAA still sniffing around Oxford and that's obviously not even mentioning the HDN suit against OM. Soap opera down in the state of Mississippi. Should we call it "As the stomach churns"

The hearing on the motions by Mississippi State's Leo Lewis and Kobe Jones, and Lindsey Miller, Laremy Tunsil's estranged stepfather, were scheduled to take place Thursday morning in Holly Springs.

On Monday, Charles Merkel, the attorney representing Rebel Rags, confirmed the hearing has been pushed back to Sept. 25.

Another criminal case took precedent for judge John Kelly Luther, which caused the postponement.

"It was set in Marshall County this week and he had some criminal matter that was on the docket that he thought was going to resolve itself by plea bargain and go off," Merkel said. "Then the guy decided he was going to go to trial. With the criminal case taking precedent, the judge cancelled it himself."

Merkel said there were seven or eight days proposed, but conflicts arose with those dates, which is how things landed on Sept. 25, which is two weeks after Ole Miss' hearing before the NCAA's Committee on Infractions.

Rebel Rags filed its lawsuit — citing defamation, commercial disparagement and civil conspiracy — in June. Miller responded with a motion to dismiss, while Lewis and Jones both filed for a motion to dismiss, a transfer of venue and to sever from the other defendants.

In its initial complaint, Rebel Rags alleged that Lewis, Jones and Miller knowingly provided false information about the outlet store to the NCAA during its investigation into Ole Miss' football program.

Those three allegedly received approximately $2,800 worth of free merchandise from Rebel Rags, which constituted as a Level I violation in the NCAA enforcement staff's Notice of Allegations to the university, which it received in February.

Lewis, who was granted limited immunity during the investigative process, was tied to multiple Level I violations in Ole Miss' case. He was requested to attend the Committee on Infractions hearing in Covington, Kentucky.

The COI has set aside two to three full days for the hearing, which takes place the week Ole Miss plays Cal, and Mississippi State plays LSU in its SEC opener.

“There was no collusion between Dan Mullen and Kobe Jones,” Shapley said in part of the statement to Will Sammon. “[Kobe] was interviewed by the NCAA, he was accompanied by his father and did not have a lawyer present. The only thing he promised to do and the only thing he did was answer the questions as accurately as he could.”

The lawsuit brought forth by Rebel Rags alleges that Jones, Mississippi State linebacker Leo Lewis and Lindsey Miller, Laremy Tunsil’s stepfather, conspired against Ole Miss. On Sept. 25, a hearing for motions in the case will take place.

The main point of Rebel Rags’ complaint in its lawsuit against Jones, his teammate Leo Lewis and Kobe Jones, and Lindsey Miller, Laremy Tunsil’s estranged stepfather, is that there was an “overarching conspiracy” involving the three defendants. The conspiracy also included MSU staff, a NCAA staff person and a fan-base MSU site, Rebel Rags said in its response. The hearing for the motions in the lawsuit is set for Sept. 25.

“There was no collusion between Dan Mullen and Kobe Jones,” Shapley said Monday. “(Kobe) was interviewed by the NCAA, he was accompanied by his father and did not have a lawyer present. The only thing he promised to do and the only thing he did was answer the questions as accurately as he could. Nobody instructed him to do or not do anything other than tell the truth and that’s what he did.”

During the time when the summons was served, Telesia Jones allegedly told her husband, Melvin Jones, “I’m tired of these damn coaches. If it wasn’t for that damn Dan Mullen, we wouldn’t be in this (expletive.),” according to RebelGrove.com, which reported Lopaz overheard the exchange.

Clarksdale-based attorney Charles Merkel hired Lopaz, the owner of Jones Investigation Services of the South, LLC, to serve the summons to Kobe and Telesia. Lopaz was a member of the Ole Miss football team from 1985-88 and he declined to comment when contacted by The Clarion-Ledger.

It is unclear if the documents were reports made by Lopaz’s recollection or not. There is also no way to prove one way or the other if Kobe and his family made these statements unless there is a recording of the conversations. Shapley, who was not present when Kobe was served, said the conversations never took place based on his conversations with Kobe and Kobe’s parents.

According to documents obtained by RebelGrove.com, when Lopaz arrived at the Jones’ residence on June 11, Telesia and her daughter were in the process of leaving their residence. Lopaz pulled behind their vehicle, exited his vehicle and served Telecia with a summons. Lopaz then asked Telesia to call her son and arrange for him to come home to accept service of process.

Lopaz then backed his car out of the driveway so Telesia could leave. He parked his vehicle on the street to wait for Kobe to arrive. In the interim, Kobe’s father, Melvin Jones, approached Lopaz to ask him about the summons he had just served Telesia.

During that time, Telesia called Melvin. Melvin took the call and utilized the speaker feature on the phone, allowing Lopaz to clearly overhear the conversation.

According to documents obtained by RebelGrove.com, Lopaz clearly heard Telesia tell her husband, “I am tired of all this NCAA (expletive).”

Lopaz, in documents obtained by RebelGrove.com, then heard Melvin tell his wife, “We should get our own attorney instead of trusting Mississippi State’s attorneys. We are going to plead the Fifth. All of this was supposed to be confidential.”

Telesia responded, saying, “I’m tired of these damn coaches. If it wasn’t for that damn Dan Mullen, we wouldn’t be in this (expletive.)”

Kobe arrived at the family residence soon thereafter and accepted summons from Lopez. Before Lopaz left, he heard Melvin tell his son he needed to get his own attorney, adding, “You need to plead the Fifth the next time they interview you.”

Kobe responded, according to documents obtained by RebelGrove.com, telling his father, “I know what to do, Dad. We already have lawyers. The coaches told us the other day this would probably happen.”

2. For those searching for another tie between Mississippi State and the NCAA’s investigation into Ole Miss’ football program, Telesia and Kobe’s comments are difficult to ignore. It’s reasonable to conclude Kobe Jones interviewed with the NCAA in February 2016 at the behest of Mississippi State representatives and perhaps Mullen himself.

Obviously, Melvin Jones is concerned his son may have incriminated himself by offering false information to the enforcement staff and thereby jeopardized himself in connections with the Rebel Rags defamation lawsuit.

Finally, it’s clear from Kobe’s statements the Mississippi State staff was aware of the information provided to the NCAA by Jones and Bulldogs linebacker Leo Lewis and had developed contingency plans as a result.

According to documents obtained by RebelGrove.com, on June 30, the NCAA enforcement staff uploaded a video in which Telesia Jones claims to display various merchandise obtained from Rebel Rags as well as the business card of Rebel Rags owner Terry Warren’s daughter, Ashley Grantham. The video is narrated by Jones’ attorney, Chris Shapley.

Attorneys in the case have raised several questions about the video, wondering about the timing of the video, the authenticity of the claims made in the video and whether Rebel Rags even carried some or all of the merchandise shown in the video when Jones took his unofficial and official visits to Ole Miss during the recruiting process.

Attorneys involved in the case have, per sources, asked that the Committee on Infractions compel Kobe Jones and Mullen to submit to interviews to discuss issues surrounding the video and other matters. To date, those requests have been denied though the chief hearing officer in the case, Xavier athletics director Greg Christopher, reminded all parties of Bylaw 19.7.7.3, which obligates all parties to present relevant information to assist the panel in reaching informed decisions on the issues.

According to documents obtained by RebelGrove.com, Shapley informed attorneys in the case that Jones would not sit down for an interview.

3. So here we are, a mere 15 days from the COI hearing, and while there’s not much mystery left in regards to what will be discussed at the Embassy Suites in Covington, Kentucky, there is no consensus whatsoever regarding the eventual verdict.

Ben Garrett of the Ole Miss Spirit and former Ole Miss defensive end Kentrell Lockett are joined by Antonio Morales of the Clarion-Ledger to discuss the latest on the Rebel Rags lawsuit. Plus, Ben and '40' weigh in on the bombshell FBI report that rocked college basketball on Tuesday, which pulled back the curtain on the wild, wild west recruiting environment Ole Miss has had to navigate around to find talent.

First, judge John Kelly Luther denied Lindsey Miller's motion for dismissal, but reserved the right to review the motion after discovery is complete.

Later in the day, Luther told the attorneys representing the plaintiff, Rebel Rags, and defendants, Lewis and Jones, that he'd give them a decision Lewis and Jones' motions to sever and for transfer of venue within the next two weeks.

Discovery has been stayed until there is a resolution.

"Case law is clear that until a case is in proper venue then discovery is not appropriate," said John Wheeler, who is representing Lewis. "That's fairly clear, red-letter law.

"The other issue is there simply isn't a connection for these defendants to get sued in Lafayette County."

Rebel Rags, an Oxford-based retail store, filed its complaint against the three defendants in June and cited defamation, commercial disparagement and civil conspiracy.

The lawsuit stems from statements Lewis, Jones and Miller gave to the NCAA's enforcement staff during its investigation into Ole Miss' football program. Rebel Rags contends those three knowingly gave investigators false information.

"This court finds defendants Jones and Lewis have been properly joined under Rule 20(a) as the relief asserted against these defendants arises from the same transaction, occurrence, or same series of transactions or occurrences, and common questions or law or fact to all parties will arise in action," Luther's ruling stated.

The ruling was filed Thursday afternoon, but neither Charles Merkel, Rebel Rags' attorney, Chris Shapley, Jones' attorney, nor John Wheeler, Lewis' attorney, were made aware of it until Friday morning.

With news that Ole Miss is set to learn its fate from the NCAA Committee on Infractions on Friday, there’s been some new news regarding Leo Lewis, a central figure in the NCAA’s case against Ole Miss.

According to Steven Godfrey of SBNation [and friend of Hogville], Lewis told NCAA investigators that he received $10,000 from Calvin Green, the father of Lewis’ Mississippi State teammate Farrod Green, just prior to National Signing Day in 2015. Calvin Green is the defensive backs coach at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Miss.

Mississippi State may not have violated any rules if it can be proven that Calvin Green had a prior relationship with Lewis that pre-dated his time as a top football recruit. Lewis also accepted money from Ole Miss, as he received more than $21,000 from both schools.

Ole Miss has taken the latest step in the process of its fight against NCAA sanctions.

The school has fully reinstated Terry Warren, the owner of Rebel Rags and Booster No. 5 in the NCAA report, according to Ben Garrett of 247Sports.

Warren’s reinstatement will be valid until Ole Miss’ appeal of its NCAA penalties is heard and a ruling is delivered.

The NCAA officially released its full sanctions against Ole Miss and former coach Hugh Freeze earlier this month.

Soon after, the school filed an appeal. Freeze decided not to appeal the sanctions against him.

The Rebels program is appealing its 2018 postseason ban, restrictions on unofficial visits by recruiting prospects to their Oxford campus, and its charge of lack of institutional control.

Warren and Rebel Rags, a clothing store in Oxford, come into play in the penalties after former recruits Leo Lewis and Kobe Jones, both now at Mississippi State, said that they received hundreds of dollars of free merchandise from the store on visits to Ole Miss.

Rebel Rags sued the players during the summer of 2017 for providing false statements. The most recent progress in that case occurred in November, when a judged denied a change in venue request from the players.

The case will be tried in Oxford, where the store in located, rather than in Starkville, where Lewis and Jones made their statements to the NCAA.

The verdict of the case between Rebel Rags and the two Mississippi State players will likely have a significant impact on at least part of the result of the appeal...

The lawsuit alleges that Mullen, Stricklin and others were involved in a conspiracy with Sheridan and the NCAA that ultimately harmed the store when it was named in Ole Miss’s Notice of Allegations from the NCAA.

According to The Clarion Ledger, Stricklin’s attorney released a statement, saying “Simply put, the claims against Mr. Stricklin are wholly devoid of merit and there is simply no good faith basis in either law or fact for Mr. Stricklin to have been made a party to such a case.”

Mullen was the coach at Mississippi State from 2009 until 2017, and he recruited both Jones and Lewis to Starkville.